Hotels, banquet halls can’t serve liquor at marriages without licence: Shimla DC

Anyone found consuming alcohol on roadside or at public places in Shimla district will be prosecuted under Section 46 of the Excise Act along with a fine up to Rs 5,000 and imprisonment up to three months, said Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap while presiding over a meeting of the district-level N-CORD here today. “Hotels, banquet halls, marriage palaces and dharamshalas will not be allowed to serve liquor at marriages without a licence or they will be penalised,” he added.

Kashyap said the state government had launched the Chitta-Free Himachal Campaign. “Under this drive, every stakeholder, right from educational institutions, employees to every section of society, must be involved to ensure a ‘chitta’ and drug-free Himachal,” he added.

Directions were issued for strengthening the intelligence and information system at the panchayat level so that investigative agencies could receive immediate information about drug traffickers. The Deputy Commissioner said that efforts were being made to make Himachal drug-free through drug prevention committees.

Other issues discussed included the monitoring of illegal cultivation of poppy husk and marijuana, progress of investigations in cases with cross-state ramifications, promotion of anti-drug abuse awareness in schools and colleges, holding awareness campaigns in areas affected by illegal cultivation, harmful effects of drugs and the supervision of drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Divyanshu Singhal, Additional District Magistrate (Law and Order) Pankaj Sharma, DSP Amit Thakur along with all SDMs, DSPs of the district, officers of the Health and Education departments attended the meeting.